Newbury conservationist's appeal for donations for Cameroon wildlife centre

Former St Bart's pupil Laura Praill is appealing to her home town to help with supplies at an animal conservation centre.

Miss Praill, who started working at the Limbe Wildlife Centre (LWC) in Cameroon earlier this year, said the centre takes care of 250 animals, including more than 180 primates such as highly endangered gorillas, chimpanzees, mandrills, drills and other monkeys.

She said: "We need a whole host of things which are very difficult to get in Cameroon, as well as too expensive for us to buy. As an NGO, we often rely solely on donations.

"The financing of our activities depends exclusively on donations from institutions, commercial companies and individuals.

"Unfortunately, our current means are barely enough to cover the essentials, such as the care of the animals of the LWC and the maintenance of the enclosures and infrastructures."

Since 1993, thanks to the partnership between the Ministry of Forests and Wildlife (MINFOF) and the Pandrillus Foundation, the LWC has been responsible for rescuing, caring for and rehabilitating animal victims of poaching and illegal wildlife trafficking.

The LWC also provides medical care, with the aim of ultimately rehabilitating and, where possible, releasing animals back to the wild.

The centre employs about 40 local staff, many of whom have been with the organisation for more than 20 years.

Miss Praill said that one of the things they really need are laptops.

"Some of our staff work on very old and slow laptops and computers, which affects their ability to do their work," she said.

"As the new school year approaches, we are especially in need of good laptops for our education department so they can effectively deliver exciting conservation education to the nine schools in Limbe that we teach at."

She added: "The centre is in constant need of general supplies, for instance the veterinary department is also always on the look out for second hand medical equipment etc.

"We would benefit from just about anything you can think of, such as binoculars, cameras, memory sticks, padlocks, notebooks, rubber gloves... the list goes on!"

Miss Praill, who has a degree in primate conservation, explained her role as fundraising and communications manager: "I spend my time finding new funding through grant applications with big organisations, managing the social media, public relations etc."

But she added: "My favourite part about being here is when I get to have some quiet time sitting with the animals. When I'm not working you can normally find me sitting with the gorillas or chimpanzees."

The 26-year-old, whose mother Meryll founded the Newbury Soup Kitchen, said she will be coming home later in the year for a visit and can collect donations to take back to Cameroon.

She said: "If people want to make donations please email me fundraising@limbewildlife.org, we really would be most grateful for any supplies you can spare."